Tom Verses McDuffie

It is a shame when pastors, who are on the anti-calvinism crusade, decide to take their criticisms to the editorial pages or even their pulpits without first knowing what they are talking about. Pastors that are so willing to criticize a theology that they know nothing about from their pulpits will have to give an account for their behavior and intentions. This should not be something taken lightly by a called man of God.

A good and typical example of the misunderstandings of Calvinism is an article written by the Rev. Joel McDuffie, Is John Calvin in Heaven?, found here with a critique offered by Tom Ascol.

A big kudos for Tom to have taken the time to offer a rebuttal which to this day I have never heard a response to. For instance, here is a portion:

McDuffie: All God had to do was create heaven the first time, end of story. Filling heaven with beings predetermined not to sin is no more difficult than creating those who can.

Tom's response: Surely McDuffie is not suggesting by this second conjecture that he believes heaven will be populated with beings who are NOT predetermined to sin! Does he think that sin will be a possibility in heaven with the redeemed of earth and holy angels?

Exactly! If men must have a libertarian or autonomous free-will in order to be truly human and have the "real" capacity to love, does that mean men will still be able to sin while in heaven? If not, why not? To this day I have never heard of a credible response by those who argue against the Calvinistic position.

Anyway, the article is a very good response for those who like to think through what they are saying.